Happy July fourth from Paris!
9 a.m. came early that day. At this point we have decided that grabbing a sandwich from the market is the best plan. Before we left we discussed which sites to see and in what order. We decided on taking a tube to Notre Dame and walking most of the rest of the day. Notre Dame, the Louvre, and then some lunch. We were too excited to plan the whole thing. We basically just got on the same page before setting off. We left in search of a tube. A few blocks later we found one.
Notre Dame first on the list, and it didn't disappoint. A lovely elderly Frenchman showed me how to feed the birds.
There is an art to make wild animals feel comfortable enough to eat from your fingertips. Pinch a bread like food item between your fingers and ever so gracefully raise your arm in the air. It was amazing I felt just like Snow White. I have always wanted to feed random wild animals. Little tourist-tamed birds are close enough for me. Take note I had to soak my hand in hand sanitizer for 30 minutes afterword, because trust me they aren't that tame. The building itself was magnificent. We walked around the whole thing. Every wall, corner, and doorway whispers a story of its own.
I would retell every one if I could, but this is Paris in 72 hours or less, so buckle up.
A brief tourist gift shop, and side walk ice cream and hot dog vendor visit was in order. After a shared hot dog, 4 mini Eiffel Towers, one huge bottle of water, and rasberry sorbet we were on our way to the Louvre. Walking along the river was an experience within itself. The river is lined with vendors selling a montage of things, paintings, post cards, books, old odds and end
s, and plenty more.
The Louvre was brilliant. The queue was extraordinarily long, but surprisingly it only took thirty minutes. Once inside we set off for the italian paintings.
I saw THE "Mona Lisa", it was so unbelievably crowded. The guy standing behind me was from North Carolina. I heard him talking to one of his friends, and I got excited at hearing an accent from home. I turned and asked him where he was from. He kind of rolled his eyes and said America. Sometimes if your in a foreign country for a while the question becomes repetitive. Honestly the question isn't so bad as some peoples reactions, and most of the time your the best or your the absolute worst, and some people really don't mind sharing their opinions on your nationality.
I gave him my are-you-kidding-me face and said I know that, but where? He looked so surprised and said North Carolina. Then we talked about the carolinas for a while it was pretty great. We even saw him again later at the Arche de Triumphe. We continued our tour of the Louvre, with walking up tons of stairs to an area of sculptures and another italian painting area.
I saw the sculpture of "dum dum" from "Night at the Museum." We then made our way out in search of lunch.
We continued along the river and then veered off to find a nice quiet sit down place. We found a place and the boys ate MEAT. I believe that was their exact phrase. I had some pizza and we just sat for a while. We planned the rest of the day when we were done. Eiffel Tower, football stadium, and the Arche de Triumphe for the sunset. At this point I am completely exhausted, but its Paris. I kinda just had to get over it.
The Eiffel tower was HUGE, and it looked the same as it does in all the pictures. It was pretty amazing to see in person. We didn't go up because the queue was massive, and we heard it wasn't that big of a deal if you don't have time for it.
The Arche de Triumphe was my absolute favorite part of the whole trip. The sunset was beautiful and it was just really laid back. We walked across the street because we didn't know about the underground situation. We climbed some stairs and then just took pictures and watched the sunset.
We were all pretty tired. It was great! On the way back we walked under the street and then headed home. It was late and I was dead tired.
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